J.C. Penney store at Glenwood Mall to close

FILE - In this April 9, 2013, file photo, signage at a J.C. Penney store is displayed in New York. J.C. Penney is listing the 138 locations it will shutter in the coming months as the retailer seeks to cut costs and improve its profitability. J.C. Penney Co. is hurting as more people shop online instead of heading to the mall. The closures are part of the company's previously announced plans to focus on its best-performing stores. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

The J.C. Penney store at the Glenwood Springs Mall is among 138 locations nationwide that the company said Friday it will shutter in the coming months as the retailer seeks to cut costs and improve its profitability.

Like other department stores, J.C. Penney Co. is hurting as more people shop online instead of heading to the mall. The closures are part of the company's previously announced plans to focus on its best-performing stores.

The Glenwood store is among four in Colorado on the list, with the others in Fort Morgan, Longmont and Sterling.

“This is very sad for a number of reasons,” Marianne Virgili, president and CEO for the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, said.

“Glenwood Springs is a regional shopping center for the Western Slope, and it’s a major loss for men’s and children’s clothing,” she said. “Hopefully this opens up an opportunity for other retail stores to fill those niches.”

The store closure will be hard on the employees, Virgili said, adding that there are also currently a lot of job openings in Glenwood.

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“There’s also an emotional attachment to a store like Penney’s,” she said. “But it’s really the way the economy is going right now, where consumers are turning more to online stores and less bricks and mortar.”

Nine Penney’s stores will close in Texas, the most of any state. Eight will close in Minnesota and seven will be shut in both Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Liquidation sales will start at the 138 stores next month, and most of them will be shut by mid-June. The closings will leave J.C. Penney with a total of about 900 stores.